Tips on how you can graduate debt-free (not spam).

Appletiser

DrFluffy wrote:

Surely it is quite simple:

Get a job, not a loan
Don't spend more than you bring in.

Voila - you will graduate debt free. It worked for me the first time round...

I am starting university this September and I don't think there is any chance of being able to graduate debt-free.

Outgoing Per year:
Tuition fees = £3000
Accommodation + Bills = £5200 (52 weeks in central London so I may be being a bit optimistic about this figure)
Food, travel etc = £1500? (Not too sure about this figure as it leaves £28 a week to live off but I think it will be do able as I don't drink or smoke etc)

My course is 4 years therefore total cost of degree = £38,800

To be debt free when I graduate I need to get a job paying £9700 a year while I am at university. As any job I could get would probably be paying £5 per hour I would have to work about 38 hours per week.

If I am paying nearly £40000 for a degree I want to try my hardest to get a first class honours and also to get as much out of the university experience as possible. If I work 38 hours a week I don't believe that will be possible.

My parents have agreed to help me pay for some of the costs as the student loans company is only letting me borrow £7000 per year and I am not entitled to any grants off the government as both my parents work full time. However due to most of the population sharing the views of DrFluffy and heymylastnameislewis, I am now going to feel ashamed that my parents will be paying for some of my education. I want to be able to just say thank you and tell them how much I appreciate their help but instead I am made to feel guilty by the rest of society.

DrFluffy

Appletiser wrote:

My parents have agreed to help me pay for some of the costs as the student loans company is only letting me borrow £7000 per year and I am not entitled to any grants off the government as both my parents work full time. However due to most of the population sharing the views of DrFluffy and heymylastnameislewis, I am now going to feel ashamed that my parents will be paying for some of my education. I want to be able to just say thank you and tell them how much I appreciate their help but instead I am made to feel guilty by the rest of society.

In the context of this thread title (and the !!!!e advice offered with in the link accompanying the first post), I think you'll find that my advice is the only way you can graduate debt free...

PS It's fairly easy to find an office job in London paying £10 ph (and then some)...

BigBouncyBall

Oh I do get racked off with this $h*t; every bloody discussion on student debt turns into a battle between the "pay-their-own-way'ers" on their high horse and the "sporn-of-the-devil-spongers" who can do no right. Can we stop this bullying of each other its pathetic. We should all be ashamed.

letsgobilliejoe

DrFluffy wrote:

Erm, yes

haha thought so! I'll be a fellow QMUL student come september! (well, if I get the grades on Thursday!

DrFluffy

letsgobilliejoe wrote:

haha thought so! I'll be a fellow QMUL student come september! (well, if I get the grades on Thursday!

Good luck, hope you get the grades you want/need...

letsgobilliejoe

DrFluffy wrote:

Good luck, hope you get the grades you want/need...

I hope I do too! I NEED BBB, but I WANT AAB. Anyway, sorry to deviate from the topic.

cupid_s

but how easy is it to get an office job out of normal 9-5 hours. I was in uni for full days every day of the week. Then there were practical write ups and all sorts. We were recommended to spend 90 hours per module on extra reading and note writing and so over the 12 weeks this equated to over 7 hours per module!

I got a job in the first year, but being full time at uni and having no time during the day to do work meant the only work i could really do was bar work. Then in the 2nd year there was just too much uni work to carry on working.

The average rent where i went to uni is now about £65-70 per week, and with top up fees so high I don't see how it is possible to finish debt free unless your parents can help, or you have loads of savings already

GreenSaints

I have a completely different view on student loans now then I did when I originally started my degree.

First of all I didn't do the "normal" route - i.e. GCSE's, A Levels, Uni. I went to work at 16 and stayed there till last September.

I never knew the deal about student loans and how it was means tested. I thought it was like (for example) the NHS - it works out if you eligable for it by what you have saved up, so I assumed I would never get this.

However, just stumbling along the Direct Gov website, I realised I was classed as an "independant student" because I had support myself for three years or more and I had moved out.

This was great because that meant I was eligable for my tuition fees to be paid for (as my boyfriend was now the only "bread winner" in the house and we are classed as poor!! ) and I could get a loan.

I thought long about this because I could have used my savings but then thought against this as the interest rate was so low. The spare bit of student loan that I have left I've stuck in a high interest account and watching the interest build up :j

I got a part time job in Boots (which is great for discount!! ) and worked two days a week (Sunday being time and a half! ) so the money I earned went on the mortgage, bills, travel etc. so my loan was really there just for emergencies.

When I started last September I was pretty sure I didn't want to leave with £9000 worth debt, but I'm glad I did take out a loan because I still have my savings and the repayments aren't bank breaking.

So in conclusion, this doesn't really have any tips on leaving uni debt-free but it's just my experience! :rotfl:

DrFluffy

cupid_stunt wrote:

but how easy is it to get an office job out of normal 9-5 hours. I was in uni for full days every day of the week. Then there were practical write ups and all sorts. We were recommended to spend 90 hours per module on extra reading and note writing and so over the 12 weeks this equated to over 7 hours per module!

I got a job in the first year, but being full time at uni and having no time during the day to do work meant the only work i could really do was bar work. Then in the 2nd year there was just too much uni work to carry on working.

The average rent where i went to uni is now about £65-70 per week, and with top up fees so high I don't see how it is possible to finish debt free unless your parents can help, or you have loads of savings already

I worked in a restuarant for the whole of my first degree - wages were !!!!e, but my tips were always really good. I used to work 2 nights in the week, then a Friday OR Saturday night (going out with friends on the one I didn't work), and then a 10am-6pm shift on Sunday. My halls of residence cost £65 a week back then, and I didn't get any help of my mum and dad, nor did I take out a loan.

Worked in an office last year, but only because I had two afternoons a week that were designated as SDL (self Directed Learning) - I did my SDL in the evenings instead, so could be more flexible...

cupid_s

DrFluffy wrote:

I worked in a restuarant for the whole of my first degree - wages were !!!!e, but my tips were always really good. I used to work 2 nights in the week, then a Friday OR Saturday night (going out with friends on the one I didn't work), and then a 10am-6pm shift on Sunday. My halls of residence cost £65 a week back then, and I didn't get any help of my mum and dad, nor did I take out a loan.

Worked in an office last year, but only because I had two afternoons a week that were designated as SDL (self Directed Learning) - I did my SDL in the evenings instead, so could be more flexible...

We had no SDL time assigned this was all to be done outside of uni hours. We had full days, maybe we were lucky and had an hour off here or there which would be used for studying. But if you're in uni 30 hours a week. And then have to fit another 40 hours per week self directed learning. How does that fit with working 3 nights a week and most of sunday?

If I had been doing a degree which only required me to do a total of say 40 hours work a week then i could have spent 30 hours working no problem. But with some courses being so time consuming not everyone can work such hours